Canoeist to Continue 8,000 Kilometre Journey Across Canada

On or around May 20th, as soon as the ice leaves the lakes of Northern Saskatchewan, Jay Morrison will dip his paddle into Lac Laloche, carry over the historic twenty kilometre Methye Portage into the Arctic watershed and continue a trip he began last summer to voyage by canoe from the Atlantic the Arctic Ocean, following the traditional routes of the Native people and European explorers.

In the summer of 2006 Jay paddled his homemade canoe over 3,000 kilometres from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Lake Winnipeg. He plans to finish in Winnipeg this September.

Thousands of people followed Jay\'s voyage through his online journal at www.cpaws.org/canoe and over 50 media interviews, sharing the experience of paddling Canada\'s historic waterways through both cities and wilderness. While aiming to promote awareness of the need to conserve Canada\'s threatened wilderness and the work of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS), the trip also became a voyage of discovery about the nature of Canadians. Says Jay, "I hope even more people will join me this year through the website and learn about the wild places in Canada and what CPAWS is doing to protect them. My goal is to inspire Canadians to get involved in whatever way works for them. If we all do a little more we can make a big difference."

"I had imagined the trip would be mainly about overcoming the physical challenges: the wind, waves and rapids and long portages overland, but the most lasting memories from the first year are of the people I met from all walks of life. Everyone was so helpful and I think that a big part of the reason is that Canadians almost universally support doing more to protect our wilderness heritage because wilderness is part of what defines Canada. Public knowledge of global climate change and the desire to do something about has exploded in the past year but I\'m not sure that we are truly aware of the important role that our vast but disappearing Boreal forest plays in mitigating climate change and in cleaning the world\'s fresh water and air as well a providing a home for wildlife. Canada has a large share of the intact forest that remains on the planet and I believe that we have a responsibility to protect and manage it in a sustainable way."

To learn more about The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society go to: www.cpaws.org